(Kam) This was it, the time that Duncan and I had been waiting for…. the beach getaway. We had decided to spend our time in two different beach areas in Vietnam. The first Doc Let (pronounced Yop Lek), based upon a recommendation in Lonely Planet which said …. “a beautiful beach, with nothing to do but relax and swim..”; and the second at Mui Ne which a small resort town with a number of resorts backing onto the beach……Perfect!!!!! Sun, surf, sand, and…….book reading.
Doc Let
Our beach getaway didn’t start quite that way though. After spending 8 hours on the overnight bus we had arranged for the company to drop us off at the nearest point on the main road to Doc Let beach which is 1 hour north of Nha Trang the main beach resort area and where the bus terminated.
Sometime around 5am someone shook my leg and dragged me out of the sleep I finally managed to grasp on the bus. “Yop Lek” “Yop Lek” they were telling me. “Surely not Doc Let yet” I thought as I looked bleary eyed out of the bus window “it is still dark”. Within a moment Duncan and I were standing on the side of the road, the bus zooming into the distance with a cloud of dust in its wake. Two little forlorn Buchanan’s in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night…… awwwww. “Was Doc Let going to be such a good idea???”
Of course like anywhere in Vietnam there is always a guy with a motor bike willing to offer you a lift for a price. After much negotiation we agreed on a price (1/3 of the asking price) and Duncan and I got on two motorbikes with our two large bags balancing on the handle bars.
Duncan experienced one of his most memorable moments Vietnam as we scooted across the countryside towards Doc Let while the sun came up of the mountains. I would have loved to see it but the helmet the driver provided me was far too big and kept slipping over my eyes every time we went over a small bump. Holding onto to gear life I was too scared to release my grip to push it back.
Doc Let was exactly what we were looking for, and a Paradise (funnily enough also the name of the resort) after being dropped in the middle of nowhere.
Paradise resort is a no frills basic resort, but with all essential elements needed for a beach getaway. We had a waterfront bungalow with our veranda looking out over the beach. Our decision to get off the beaten track and go here rather than the much easier option of Nha Trang had paid off. There is nothing to do here but swim and relax. The Resort is run by a crazy Czech guy called Vladimir (who opened it up when he was 72, 16 years ago), his 3 Rottweiler “puppies”, and his family. The silence of the place was only broken by Vladimir yelling at his staff from all corners of the resort. Duncan found him hilarious, but his staff may not agree. The water was amazing warm, and I mean warm! Tepid as a bath! Duncan and my day was organised by swims at (at least 4 a day), meals (3 a day included in our $40 room night), relaxing and reading (even Duncan read!). Ahhhh…… Duncan spent one day snorkelling on Vladimir’s boat– which was very enthusiastic of him, but said it was pretty cool seeing all the coral and fish from a number of surrounding islands.
Duncan and I were sad to leave the resort, and it was only made more difficult by Vladimir saying in his thick Czech accent: “If you make baby here, 3 nights free”!
Nha Trang
We spent one night here and were so glad we didn’t spend any longer. Gold Coast of Viet man and we determined was a tourist trap. Good stop over point though
Mui Ne
(Duncan) So with the peace and serenity of Doc Let fresh in our minds we headed south along the co
ast to Mui Ne. Another 5 hour bus ride, this time during the day, which meant upright seats rather than reclining luxury. Arriving in Mui Ne our resort was the first drop off point, we had strategically positioned ourselves at the Northern End of the strip for relaxation and quiet. The Thai Hoa resort was comfortable, clean, had a great pool and a very nice beach lined with deck chairs and umbrellas – just what we were after. Our first day was spent in the pool and with a lovely dinner on the beach front, very relaxing!
With our relaxation levels still at maximum capacity, day two meant waking up and getting straight into the pool! More reading, more sunbaking, and even more swimming, it really couldn’t get any better. But, we were soon to find out it could get much worse! We were told that we should try to avoid Mui Ne over the weekends as it can get quite busy. After the 2nd bus load of Chinese tourists arrived, we began to see what they were talking about. The whole truth hadn’t been realised until 11am when Kam was denied her morning cocktail by the pool as the staff would be “too busy looking after the other guests”. We took this as a cue and ventured outside of our resor into the bright lights of Mui Ne.
Mui Ne is a town of 1 road, hugging the beach. The beach side of the road is full of resorts and hotels, the other side of the road is full of restaurants and bars. The town is full of Russian signs and influences, obviously a hot spot for Russian tourists which Kam and I surmised could be to do with the Communist links. We thought we would walk down the strip to see what was available for dinner, and naturally the first place we went to was where we ate – but not without the 4 km walk! We decided we would drop into the Brauhaus for some locally brewed beer. The issue with a long strip was that when a place was at one end of the strip, it was a bloody long walk! The beer was very nice, however, totally overpriced at $1.20 for a stein – what joker pays for that price for beer???
(Kam) Dinner was a wonderfully beachy, laid back and delicious. We sat at a table on the sand under a beach hut looking over the water and chose a very alive crab which was steamed for us in beer – very yum!!!! Mr Crab sacrificed himself to a very worthy cause, mind you if you were gonna go down, drowning in beer is a bad way to go!
Duncan and I flushed with beachy life didn’t want to go back to our resort just yet. Ducking into our little drinking joint missing a massive tropical downpour by seconds we found out selves in the funkiest little pub that we have seen in Vietnam yet. Joe’s – we would recommend to anyone. It’s these little gems that you happen upon which are always the best. Bohemian lounge bar with deep comfortable couches and live music and an awesome cocktail list. Duncan and I could have spent hours there, and we very well could have, with Joe proclaiming proudly on all the menus that the pub has been open since 2006 24/7 not closing once, not even for the birth of his baby.
They next morning we marked the success and end of our beach segment of our Vietnam trip with another swim, sun bake and cocktails by the pool.
P.S We heard that Canberra is having quite a cold May – hopefully you are all rugged up 😉
